turns in al l'seconde

[Guest tdancer]

i don't think i spelled al l'seconde right but any way, i'd just like some advise. i have a preformance soon and im doing al'lseconde turns in it. i can do singles just fine but im haveing a bit of troble with doubles. some times i can do them fine and other times i can't. it seems on the times that i cant do them that my hips sort of turn in a bit and the leg that is to the side comes forward. im not sure what to do about it, is it just an issuse of not enough turn out?

[Mel Johnson]

It's à la seconde. And what sort of à la seconde turns are we talking about here? En dehors? En dedans? Are they pirouettes, or do you step into them in a piqué, what kind of a turn do we have here? A single should be fine for most purposes, but after you've done a few in succession, you'll have momentum built up to go around twice. Just keep feeling as if someone is pushing your thigh back toward second so it doesn't sneak around to the front!

 

And by the way, welcome to the Men's Forum here at Ballet Talk on Ballet Alert! Online!

[Guest tdancer]

thanks for the welcome, and they are en dehor pirouettes. i can do the double fine after i do a few singles but the problem is i have to start with a double. would keeping my hip down and back help??

[Mel Johnson]

Yes, and maintain a very high relevé to lessen friction which will slow your turn. Starting with a double is a tricky business. You have to use enough force to get around, and yet not so much that you knock yourself off balance.

[Guest tdancer]

ok, thanks for the help

[dancersteven]

Hips even, shoulders down, both legs straight and point that working foot!

 

Good luck. . .

[Mel Johnson]

And Steven is right. Luck can enter into it. One time I had to land and do an echappé to fourth and pirouette. The performance was outdoors and I turned on what we later determined had been a toad. Boy, did I ever TURN, though!

[Ed McPherson]

tdancer-

 

I actually had a similar problem a few weeks ago... Perhaps the correction I got will help.

 

I was struggling with my à la seconde leg floating to the front as a result of my hips turning in. My gut reaction was to turn the à la seconde leg out more... my instructor suggested that I pull up on my standing leg especially under my butt (I wish I had the name of the muscle, think of bringing the ischial tuberosities, or sits bones foreword, to focus on turning the standing leg out), I was also sitting in my hip, and needed to get "up off my leg"

 

hope that helps, you may be working on something entirely different

 

 

Edward

[Hans]

Actually, that's a really good point, Ed. If the supporting leg isn't right, the pirouette won't work at all--I had to struggle with fixing that after years of doing it wrong. It's amazing how activating the turnout muscles on the supporting leg will make the working leg appear more turned out.

[Guest djb]

Re Mel's story about the ex-toad...I feel sorry for animals because not only do they have to contend with the traditional stress of eating or being eaten, they now have to deal with fast-moving vehicles. But to think that even if they survive all of that, they can still be done in by an echappe saute...what a life!